: I know 343 is sending that hype train down the tracks, full steam. Don't
: forget the hype levels surrounding the MCC. They even had a huge, glitzy,
: spike-the-football party in LA.

: The MCC was, completely and unequivocally, a broken game. It was months
: before it transitioned from "completely broken" to
: "contains glaring issues and regressed functionality." Even the
: Halo 5 beta had serious issues, especially around parties and matchmaking.

: Don't get bamboozled again.

I haven't been bamboozled yet. MCC was a bunch of games duct taped together, I ended up buying it around the time they announced ODST (just after I would have gotten it for free) and spent this spring playing Halo 1, Halo 2 (with an ODST detour), Halo 3, and Halo 4 one after the other and had a hell of a time. I also really enjoyed the beta and did find the matchmaking/party functionality worrisome at the same time.

So I didn't pre-order MCC (I mean, it's a bunch of old games cobbled together, not sure why I would have), and also see MCC not as a product of 343 much in the way I don't actually pay much attention to "produced by" billings on movies. I thought Halo 4 was solid if poorly designed (not one for progression systems), and have really liked the design direction they've taken the series with what we've seen of 5. So pre-order I have.